Patent failure

A COMPANY hoping to cash in on an enzyme vital for most forms of DNA analysis, including DNA fingerprinting, was last week dealt a blow by the European Patent Office in Munich. The European Patent Office ruled that the enzyme cannot be patented because it was first described by scientists in the US in 1976.

The Swiss-based multinational Hoffmann La Roche has been trying to win a European patent covering the enzyme, called taq polymerase, for the past nine years. The company already holds key patents covering the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a technique for amplifying the amount of DNA in a sample, and it charges licence fees to companies and laboratories using the technique.

PCR is a vital tool in genetic research and forensic DNA fingerprinting. Taq polymerase is needed for PCR, so if Hoffman La Roche received a patent covering the enzyme it could prevent other companies marketing ...

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